The Christmas Season Begins at my house

I did go back to bed this morning.  I had woken up with that Aquinas quote in my head twice before I actually got up and posted it.  Go figure.  Then I read a few items in my Multiply InBox, posted a couple replies, and finally did just go back to bed for another three hours.

Went to church this morning.  First Sunday of Advent for those of us who follow the ancient Liturgical Church Year.  In my congregation, the tradition for the First Sunday of Advent is for all the women and children to go in and sit, but all the men from 9th grade to 90 years old come in together following the cross and singing "Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel" -- and this sounds WONDERFUL! They sing 3 verses on their way in.  As they get to the front, they bow to the cross, which has preceded them in, and then they hang out around the sides of the sanctuary.  On verse 4, they don't sing but the women and children do for verses 4 and 5, while the men find their places in the pews.  Verse 6 everybody sings. 

I gotta tell you, though, I love to hear the men singing!  My congregation is quite into singing anyway.  Sometimes we all sing a capella and it's a little like a huge organized choir.  I guess that's because of our Day School.  All our children learn to read music, so that by the time they are grown up, they can sing just fine in church or anywhere.

When church was over this morning it was SNOWING dreadfully!  I had to stop and buy milk on the way home.  Now I've got the week's laundry started.  The photo above is the violets in my dining room and the snow falling out the sliding glass door behind them.

This is what my comfort-seeking cocker spaniel thinks of winter:

She is laying on the heat register.  She just got her hair cut yesterday, and so she has a holiday bow in her ear.  She is pretty, and she knows it.  She has learned to actually pose for me when I want to take her picture.

Friday we put up the tree:

And this afternoon my son is (I hope) off to Great Clips to get a haircut.

Here is a photo of the tree, fully assembled and decked out:

The dog assumes the photo is intended to be of herself, and so she is posing.